NCR Chapter Networking Meeting – 2016-05-18

Location: Jean Pigott Place, Ottawa City Hall. This second meeting of the 2016 season was held at another new location and was co-hosted by CPSEN and CareerJoy.

Subject: “Career Literacy: Navigating and building success in your Public Sector career”

Presentations: None available at this time.

Registrants: 115

Speakers:

Alan Kearns: Mr. Alan Kearns serves as the Head Coach and founder of CareerJoy. Dubbed by media as “Canada’s Career Coach”, Mr. Kearns has more than 22 years of experience coaching professionals with major career decisions. He has worked with a wide variety of senior Federal Government officials from numerous departments and agencies such as the Office of the Prime Minister, the Department of National Defence, Industry Canada, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade and Citizenship & Immigration Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Voted one of the Top 40 entrepreneurs under the age of 40, Alan is a regular contributor to Canadian media on the latest trends in the Canadian workforce, he has contributed to numerous Television programs including, Till Debt Do U$ Part, Princess, Breakfast Television, The National & The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. He is the career expert on the O Network reality show – Million Dollar Neighbourhood. He provides regular commentary on career issues to a number of different news organizations including, CBC radio, CTV Canada AM, The Toronto Star, The National Post and The Globe and Mail. Under Mr. Kearns’ leadership, CareerJoy™ became the official career coaching company for Queen’s University Alumni, Carleton University Alumni, University of Toronto Alumni, Athabasca University Alumni, OCAD, Nippissing University, Bishops University, UNB Law, Dalhousie Law, York University and numerous other respected Canadian organizations. He hosts one of Canada’s leading career Podcasts “CareerJoy Conversations”. Mr. Kearns is certified in the Highlands Career Assessment Methodology and was a founding member of the International Association of Coaches (IAC). Mr. Kearns is grateful to have had the opportunity to demonstrate an extensive and established record of successfully coaching a wide array of diverse professionals toward achieving their life and career goals. This includes CEOs, senior banking, software and communications executives, professional athletes, senior Federal Government officials, Provincial Government employees, legal practitioners and more.

Greg Zador: Mr. Greg Zador, CareerJoy Senior Career and Leadership Coach, brings over 14 years of international affairs experience in addition to more than 15 years of senior public sector service. Building on his roots in political, international and community development, Mr. Zador has led and managed various teams domestically and abroad. His depth of management experience includes a wide variety of municipal, federal and international public sector management positions. Mr. Zador holds a degree from Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs. Known as a naturally gifted career mentor and coach, Mr. Zador is recognized for combining his broad range of experience with aptitudes for astute analysis to provide well-grounded, articulate and discrete strategic advice to executive management teams, senior Boards and Councils.

Report

The meeting opened with a presentation by Alan Kearns who outlined the plan for the morning’s meeting. He drew most successfully on his career experiences and quickly captured the attention of all attendees. He was followed by Greg Zador who also had everyone’s attention. And attendees were quite prepared to participate – raising questions for our speakers.

Alan then introduced the Panel for a most interesting interactive session that engaged both Panel members and attendees alike.

Panel: There were five panelists who each made a major contribution to the meeting.

Tienne Chenier, Senior Policy Advisor, International Policy Coordination, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Over 13 years, Tienne has served in analyst, management and leadership capacities at IRCC and, prior to that, at Employment and Social Development Canada, where she was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.

Joanne Wilkinson, Director of Operations, Social Policy Development, Privy Council Office. Joanne Wilkinson is Director of Operations, Social Development Policy, Privy Council Office. She has served in various senior capacities with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, including as Regional Director General, in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Yukon Territory.

Susan Seally, Principal of Human Resources, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. Susan Seally is Principal, Human Resources, at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. She has over 25 years of experience working in Human Resources in the public sector and has assisted hundreds of individuals along their own journeys.

Marie-Christine Huard, Chief of Staff to the Senior Executive Director, Canada 150 Federal Secretariat. Previously working for Non-Violence International located in Bangkok, Thailand, and progressing to Special Advisor for two Vice-Presidents at Parks Canada, Marie-Christine’s goal has always been to make a difference in the lives of Canadians; and

Richard Rochefort, former Assistant Deputy Minister, Canada School of Public Service. Richard is an expert in learning, leadership development, culture change and service excellence. During his decades of federal government experience, he was the recipient of several major awards for Valuing and Supporting People.

The meeting was a notable success thanks to the efforts of our Speakers and Panelists – and those of our 80+ attendees. It was clear that the subject was of tremendous interest and that all present took note of the program content. Feedback Reports Summary

The vast majority of respondents (66%) found the knowledge level of speakers and panelists “excellent,” one-third (28%) said they were “very good,” and 4% of respondents found them “good.” As for the materials/topics presented, less than half of the respondents (42%) appreciated them as “excellent,” while 42% found them “very good” and 14% “good.”

A large majority of the respondents (90%) rated the panelists’ ability to answer questions “excellent” and “very good” while 9% rated it “good.” Again, in terms of appreciating the panelists and speakers in general, a vast majority 94% of respondents found them “excellent” and “very good.”

The majority of respondents liked the panel, Alan’s presentation, and the free flow of honest information as well as the practical suggestions. Many wrote that the panel was excellent, helpful, and shared good ideas. The respondents also appreciated the venue, the natural light and seating arrangements. In general, respondents enjoyed the session, its broad appeal, relevancy, as well as the opportunity to connect and network.

In terms of constructive feedback, respondents would have enjoyed receiving handouts, copies of the presentations and more visual aids to compensate for the quality of the LCD projection. They would have also appreciated the opportunity to connect better with an Ice Breaker activity and/or actual workshop activities in small groups; and

92% of respondents said they would recommend CPSEN events to their colleagues as an opportunity to network, learn and broaden professional circles.

We also wish to thank our co-host CareerJoy whose management and staff were most helpful in preparing and running this event.

Unfortunately there are no photos available at this time but it is hoped there soon will be an opportunity to post them to this site.